1. Field
This invention relates generally to telecommunications, and more specifically to a system and a method for delivering audio announcement.
2. Related Art
There are many existing methods for delivering audio announcement to a user. In one scenario, a person dials a telephone number at a telephone to connect to a machine and listens to a pre-recorded announcement such as location and business hours of a merchant, road conditions or weather conditions. The machine, from a simple answering machine to a sophisticated Interactive Voice Recorder (IVR), delivers the announcement by sending the audio signals of the announcement to the telephone over a telephony network. For the user to listen to the announcement again, he/she has to dial the telephone number to connect to the machine again. When there is an update for the announcement, an operator records a new announcement in the machine. The user needs to dial in to listen to the announcement.
In a different scenario, a radio broadcasting system delivers an announcement such as world and local news, weather reports, sports updates, and financial news by sending audio signals of the announcement to a radio. To deliver an announcement, a broadcaster reads the announcement or plays a pre-recorded announcement through the radio broadcasting system. To deliver an announcement multiple times, the broadcaster reads or plays the announcement multiple times. When there is an update for an announcement, the broadcaster reads the updated announcement or plays a pre-recorded updated announcement. To deliver a plurality of announcements, a broadcaster repeats the above process for each announcement, whether it is a repeat announcement, an updated announcement, or a new announcement. The broadcaster typically delivers the announcements infrequently or at a mixed time, such as every hour by the hour, 6 times a day, or in the morning and evening hours.
In another scenario, a television broadcasting system delivers an announcement in a similar fashion as a radio broadcasting system.
With the emergence of the Internet, a person uses a Web browser to obtain information, including listening to an announcement over the Internet. To listen to an announcement, a person navigates a web page or multiple web pages, and selects a textual or graphical representation of the announcement. Where there is an update for the announcement, the person needs to navigate a web page or multiple web pages, and selects a textual or graphical presentation of the announcement to listen to the announcement.
The above scenarios illustrate deficiencies in delivering audio announcement to a user in an effectively and timely manner. Therefore, there is a need to improve the effectiveness and timeliness of delivering audio announcement.